Had a fantastic dinner at the Plantagenet hotel at Mount Barker - delicious, copious and reasonably priced. Great character as well - we weren't sure what we were letting ourselves in for - the hotel was not well lit from the outside, but we shouldn't have worried. Marvellous.

After a very comfortable night's sleep we had toast for breakfast and headed off for Stirling Range National Park. A dramatic skyline of lumps and bumps stretched in front of us. We saw kangaroos and wallabies, green parrots and fields full of sheep. We took a short walk up the central Lookout and then again at the Bluff Knoll Lookout. Just amazing shapes fashioned out of the sedimentary rocks that have weathered over the years.

We then headed down to Porongurup National Park and went up the Castle Rock lookout. There was a new stainless steel viewing platform for those that made it to the top - but even from the lower levels, the view was reminiscent of Arapiles with the farmlands stretching out around. We had lunch atop the rocks and then did the descent in less than 30 mins. Spectacular granite monoliths were scattered along the scenic drive back to Mount Barker, where we thankfully filled up with petrol . According to the car we were already out of fuel, so we did quite well to make it. It was funny to have it tell us this morning that there was a risk of frost as the thermometer hit 2 degrees on the way to Stirling Ridge.

Then we headed for Albany, where the Information Centre lady booked us in at our accommodation in Middleton Bay - Dolphin Apartments. So we trotted around to pick up the key and put our things inside, before heading for the DEC office to get a National Parks Pass for 4 weeks - we got a refund on one of the $11 passes we had bought earlier in the day, and paid $40 for the pass. Then we shopped for food and took it back to the flat. Being so late in the day, we just went for a walk along the coast towards Albany, and watched the sun set across Princess Royal Bay and King George III Sound, before coming home for a dinner of beef stroganoff, or a very close relation of it....